The Wooden Flute
by Hazuki Ninja
Summary: She is narrow-minded and has become desperate for help. He is getting chubby from lack of practice, even if he won't admit it, and has a problem that Temari has forced upon him. Can they somehow help each other? Or will they end up strangling each other?
1. Weakling

**Woo Hoo! My first fanfic!! With none other than Kankuro and TenTen of course. Still haven't figured out if I want Ten with Kankuro in this, or if it will even have a happy ending. You'll just have to wait and see! **

**Oh yeah, disclaimer. If I owned Naruto, Neji would be bested by Hinata and then the Akatsuki would "somehow" get control over him. Since that hasn't happened yet, it's apparent that I don't own Naruto.**

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TenTen panted as she leaned forward, trying to catch her breath. She had been practicing since lunch break, which was quite a few hours ago, considering that the sky had turned a deep indigo. The kunoichi refused to stop though. A few days ago, she had sparred against Lee. She hadn't done that in years probably. He was always off with Gai or pushing himself with 2000 kicks, squats, etc, etc. She'd been confused on how he had beaten her so easily, but when she grudgingly went over their battle, TenTen realized just how far she had fallen behind. She used to beat Rock Lee so easily when they were younger, but now it took all her strength just to hold him off for a few minutes. What had been even more depressing was the fact that they had only been sparring.

TenTen had always known she couldn't beat her other teammate, Neji, but it took less time for her to lose than she expected. He'd even called her weak, which Lee protested by saying that she was filled with the power of youth. Huzzah for TenTen. Thus, she was still training past midnight, which was usually Lee's thing.

The sixteen year old girl took one last big gulp of air before straightening up. She was about to throw her three senbon needles, but heard a noise. TenTen abruptly stopped, listening closely. Turning around, she saw nothing but the training field.

With a small shrug, the kunoichi turned back around, still paying attention to her surroundings. After throwing her senbon, she heard another noise. TenTen was positive someone was attempting to either scare her or ambush her. She wouldn't be surprised if Naruto was out there, struggling to complete a dare or do a joke on her. TenTen couldn't be sure though.

Calmly, she reloaded her weaponry. She had one regular colored kunai and three black ones she would throw almost instantly after the silver one. With a firm grasp on her weapons, the girl spun around and tossed the kunai in the direction of the noise. Directly after, the black knives sailed out of her hand, spraying out in three different directions.

The silver one didn't make contact, but she heard a husky cry a second later. One of the dark kunais had made its mark. Now that she knew someone was out there, using genjustu no less, TenTen raised her weaponry in a protective position. Calculating in her head, TenTen wondered if she could out run this person. It would be more useful if she could see whoever this was, but she just had to take a chance. When she was about to make a dash for it, she felt something sharp press against her throat. The kunai dropped from her hands.

"That was a nice trick. Too bad you didn't take the chance to run. And thanks for leaving your backside unprotected. It made this all the easier. When _did_ you get so good at throwing things?"

TenTen froze feeling the person's warm breath on her neck. They were gasping somewhat, probably from the injury. In her head, the TenTen was screaming. _'What do I do?!' _Taking a deep breath, the teenager calmed herself down_. 'Okay, I know it's a boy and he's standing directly behind me. He's also taller than me, judging from where his mouth is. I think that's all I really know.'_ Moving her hand ever so slightly, TenTen opened the flap on her pouch where all sorts of nice sharp things were kept.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The husky voice said again, this time grabbing her hand. At the same time, the knife pressed closer to her knife.

Her brain could come up with only one solution. It was subtle, and in its own way, a little gross, but it would work. Just as she was raising her foot, the voice exclaimed, "Wait a minute, you're not Tema-" It was too late for him. With a groan he slouched to the ground.

TenTen gave a silent cheer as she whipped out a shuriken. With a flick of her wrist it went straight for the guy's shoulder. The kunoichi only wanted to disable him, so that way she could drag him to the fifth Hokage for questioning.

When she heard metal collide with metal, TenTen realized it wouldn't be so easy. The male stood up and shook himself like a dog. It was dark, and TenTen couldn't really make out any details about him. He seemed tall compared to her petite self; almost half a foot separated them.

He reached behind himself, as if to grab something. The teenage girl readied herself.

"If it's a fight you want, whoever you are, then I'll be more than willi-shit!" The male shinobi cursed as, TenTen assumed, he realized he didn't have something with him.

"Lose something?" TenTen smirked.

The guy growled. "Who the heck are you? You're obviously not Temari or anybody I know."

TenTen had been wearing a hooded jacket, somewhat similar to Kiba's, except without the fur. It was also a deep purple with intricate gold designs running up the sides. Flipping back the hood, TenTen declared, "I am the kunoichi TenTen of the Konoha village."

XXXXXXXXX P.O.V Switch!! Mysterious Shinobi XXXXXXXXX

"I am Kankuro no Sabaku of the Sunagakure village." He announced. _'TenTen, TenTen…good with weapons, small…' _Kankuro had seen this girl before, but he couldn't remember where. A picture of her tossing weapons while training came to him followed by Temari's battle at the Chunin exams two years earlier. Then it clicked.

"I remember you!" He said with a smirk. It increased as he saw the girl's obvious discomfort. "What, you wish I didn't recall you getting smashed by my sister? Look on the bright side; you survived, which is more than most of her opponents can say."

The kunoichi spat in his general direction. Yes, she spat at Him, Kankuro, brother of the Kazekage. "I too remember you. You're the boy who plays with dolls. So sad. But you didn't bring it with you tonight, did you?" A sneer lingered on her face.

As soon as she said 'doll,' Kankuro nearly threw a shuriken at her. Attempting to calm himself down, he took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at her.

This kunoichi was very easy to read actually. The expression that was still frozen on her face was an obvious mask. This little girl was scared and weak, but she was trying to hide it. Oh well, her fault for playing with the big boys.

"I don't need my _puppets_ to fight a puny child like you," Kankuro taunted as he removed two kunais. Crossing his arms, the shinobi held a defensive stance. "I bet you can't even land a scratch me!"

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**Hey peeps! Sorry if this is kind of short, but a good story has to start somewhere! Please, please, please review!! I will give you pancakes if you do! Not cookies, cause everyone gives out those. If you do review, don't just say "I hate Kankuro and TenTen. She should be with Neji." Or something along those lines. If you catch a mistake or have an idea, please post it! If you tell me a really good idea, I will put your name at the beginning of every chapter! So review!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Will be deleting this story and my other one on MONDAY, JANUARY 19 2009!!! So read them one last time if you want to. Don't worry (as if anyone would): I'll be posting a new fic on the same day (hopefully); please vote on my poll everyone!! Anyways, thanx for reading my cruddy stories and for you reviewers: you are second only to chocolate. Bye!!


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